Category Archives: Consumer Law Scholarship

Matt Bruckner Article on FinTech and Big Data

Matthew A. Bruckner of Howard has written The Promise and Perils of Algorithmic Lenders' Use of Big Data, 93 Chicago-Kent Law Review (2018). Here's the abstract: Like many new technologies, algorithmic lenders’ use of Big Data holds great promise but may also be perilous. At the most basic level, Big Data is simply a toolkit for “creating, […]

Empirical Study of Third Party Consumer Litigation Funding

Ronen Avraham of Tel Aviv University – Tel Aviv University, Buchmann Faculty of Law and Texas and Anthony J. Sebok of Cardozo have written An Empirical Investigation of Third Party Consumer Litigation Funding, 104 Cornell Law Review __ (2018).  Here is the abstract: This is the first large-scale empirical study of consumer third-party litigation funding in the […]

Dari-Mattiacci & Marotta-Wurgler Paper on How Authors of Standard Form Contracts Learn and Revise Contracts

Giuseppe Dari‐Mattiacci of Amsterdam Law School; Amsterdam Business School; and the Tinbergen Institute and Florencia Marotta-Wurgler of NYU have written Learning in Standard Form Contracts: Theory and Evidence.  Here is the abstract: We explore learning and change in standard form contracts. We hypothesize that drafters (sellers) are more likely to revise the terms they offer when […]

Study: Color and Credit: Race, Regulation, and the Quality of Financial Services

Taylor A. Begley of Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis and Amiyatosh Purnanandam of Ross School of Business, University of Michigan have written Color and Credit: Race, Regulation, and the Quality of Financial Services. Here is the abstract: The incidence of mis-selling, fraud, and poor customer service by retail banks is significantly higher in markets […]

Horton Empirical Study of How Arbitrators and Judges Decide Differently on Whether to Allow Class Actions

David Horton of California, Davis has written Clause Construction: A Glimpse into Judicial and Arbitral Decision-Making, Duke Law Journal, Vol. 68, Forthcoming. Here is the abstract: For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has insisted that forcing a plaintiff to arbitrate — rather than allowing her to litigate — does not affect the outcome of a dispute. […]

Hyman & Kovacic Article on Who Should Do What on Privacy

David A. Hyman of Georgetown and William E. Kovacic of GW and , King's College London – The Dickson Poon School of Law have written Implementing Privacy Policy: Who Should Do What?. Here's the abstract: Academic scholarship on privacy has focused on the substantive rules and policies governing the protection of personal data. An extensive literature […]

Article on How Different Countries Regulate Food Advertising to Children

Belinda Reeveand Roger Magnusson, both of The University of Sydney Law School have written Regulation of Food Advertising to Children in Six Jurisdictions: A Framework for Analyzing and Improving the Performance of Regulatory Instruments, 35 Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law (2018).  Here is the abstract: Childhood obesity is a public health crisis, and globally, […]

Study Finds Debt Collection Restraints Have Very Small Impact on Credit Access and Price

Ryan Sandler and Charles J. Romeo, both of the CFPB have written The Effect of Debt Collection Laws on Access to Credit. Here's the abstract: Debt collection by third party collection agencies is an important part of the market for consumer credit, but has been little studied in the economics literature. Regulations on debt collection practices […]

Nelson/Wright Article Applies CBA to State Unfairness Cases

Elise M. Nelson of Freshfields Bruckhaus and Joshua D. Wright of George Mason have written Judicial Cost-Benefit Analysis Meets Economics: Evidence from State Unfair and Deceptive Practices Laws, 81 Antitrust Law Journal (2017). Here is the abstract: Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce." […]

Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice

With a $3.5 million gift from Elizabeth Cabraser, Berkeley Law is launching the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice. Additional info is available here. According to the press release, the center will "deliver research and analysis to fuel meaningful policy change. It will produce white papers, file amicus briefs in consumer cases in […]